Rolling Barrel Events

Philly Zoo’s Summer Ale Festival ‘09

The Philadelphia Zoo’s First Annual Summer Ale Festival will be held on Saturday, July 25, 2009.  Rolling Barrel is pleased to announce their partnership with the Zoo and look forward to an amazing day of local craft beers and fabulous food.  Explore the Zoo, do a break-out tasting session, participate in our scavenger hunt to win prizes. 

Tickets are now on sale!

Participating Breweries: Dock Street, Flying Fish, Lancaster, Nodding Head, Philadelphia, River Horse, Roy Pitz, Sly Fox, Stoudts, Triumph, Victory, Weyerbacher, and Yards.

Black bean soup for the impatient vegetarian.

I’m no vegetarian, but I do have vegetarian friends. Cooking meat-less dishes are a nice challenge to those of us reliant on delicious, roaming protein. I came up with this black bean soup recipe because I am too lazy/impatient to soak fresh beans.  It should take 30 minutes or less to prepare.

4 cans (16 oz.) organic black beans
1 white onion
4 cloves fresh garlic
2 chipotle peppers in adobo (just two peppers from the 7 oz. can)
1 can (4 oz.) mild diced green chilies
6 springs fresh cilantro
10 springs green onion
1 container (8 oz.) sour cream
Kosher salt & cracked pepper
Olive oil

In a 6 qt. soup pot heat the olive oil. Dice white onion, mince garlic and add to the hot oil. Cook onion and garlic until soft. In a blender, puree beans, peppers and cilantro. Add to soup pot. Let simmer on low. Drizzle green onions with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and cracked pepper. Grill or bake until crispy. Remove from heat and chop. When soup is ready to be served add a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with crispy green onions. Enjoy!

Note: The chipotle peppers bring some serious delayed heat that can be off-set by the sour cream. For those who want a little more spice, try a few drops of Tabasco.

Carnivores can cook up some bacon or panchetta first in the pot, using the pork grease to cook the onions and garlic. The meat can be added to the blender with the beans and reintroduced into the pot when simmering.